DelPen wrote:What was Laviolette thinking putting Briere out their with a minute to go in a 6-3 game?

according to his post-game remarks, he thinks only top 9 players should be on the ice when the game is effectively over. of course, if we're up 6-3 and have a power play with 2 minutes left, i'm sure he'll appreciate seeing our top unit on the ice.

DelPen wrote:What was Laviolette thinking putting Briere out their with a minute to go in a 6-3 game?

according to his post-game remarks, he thinks only top 9 players should be on the ice when the game is effectively over. of course, if we're up 6-3 and have a power play with 2 minutes left, i'm sure he'll appreciate seeing our top unit on the ice.

I also believe he was watching another game on his ipad or something - one that didn't involve two teams taking liberties with each other all afternoon....

Yes the Pens still want home ice. Not getting home ice means they continue to struggle going into the playoffs. If they do that they're going to get smoked. The best thing that can happen is after getting embarrassed for the fourth time in about a week, they finally realize they need to start playing defense again and need to show up for the entire 60 minutes. Then they get a few wins going into the playoffs and take out Philly like they are perfectly capable of doing.

As far as the PP goes, Bylsma just seems to be stubborn at this point. It's not working and it's not going to be a good match against a Philly PK that can burn you with SHG. If they keep with the status quo, they are going to get crushed in the special teams battle and it's going to be hard to win a series against Philly with that being the case.

I was soooo unhappy when a dinner in NYC with friends who are moving away to Alabama was scheduled for today. I had planned on driving home for the weekend and using my tix. Annoyed that it was the only date that worked for everyone else (party of 8 folks), I sold my tix on the Exchange.

Watching this on Tivo just now, I am so happy I did not have that 5 hour drive home in the rain. This loss is incredibly disappointing and distressing for many of reasons.

Number one, the place is rocking, the Pens are winning, and Fleury allows a weak goal on a long shot from Giroux. Yes, Hartnell was in front, but that was a stoppable shot. When that goal went in, you could sense the life in the building drop and the heads of the Flyers pick up. The Flyer goalies in the last two games, no matter what their pedigree, have outplayed Fleury in never yielding that soul sucking goal.

Number two, the Pens PP is a high-wire act when it does not need to be. It has clearly been shown that Sullivan can survive back there on the point - when he has Letang on the opposite. Having another forward back there with him, when he is so obviously challenged defensively due to his size is just plain stupid. It is SO stupid that if Bylsma keeps it up and the Pens do in fact get bounced in the 1st round then I completely agree with him getting axed.

The Pens have teams coming up in the next two games that will hopefully bring out the best in them. They need to play the game as though they want to win 1-0. They need Fleury to play up to his level of the entire rest of the season.

Most importantly then, they need to beat the Flyers on that last game of the season. Hopefully to win home ice, but moreso phsycologically. If the Pens lose that game, especially if it actually matters at that time, then they are toast because the Flyers seem to be able to goad the Penguins into stupidity even when the Pens are winning. I do not feel good about the Pens winning a series against them right now, but that can all change very quickly.

What they need is a good, solid win without engaging in the Flyers game. The Flyers thrive on emotion, and the Pens need to realize that before it's too late and just play solid hockey. I honestly believe that an angry Sid or Malkin wrecks every single team in the NHL EXCEPT the Flyers. With the Flyers, any emotion is good because their entire roster elevates when they get emotion into the game. Most of the Pens are not able to do the same.

It's still mind blowing to me that Bylsma is planning to stick with the 5 forward powerplay. We have Letang, one of the best defenseman in the game and for some reason he is on the bench. If Bylsma actually sticks with this powerplay, then Shero needs to have a talk with him because at that point it's just pure stubbornness. It doesn't even have to be Shero, it can be Granato or Reirden, I don't even care if it's Dana ****ing Heinze. Somebody has to point out how ridiculous this is.

Staggy wrote:It's still mind blowing to me that Bylsma is planning to stick with the 5 forward powerplay. We have Letang, one of the best defenseman in the game and for some reason he is on the bench. If Bylsma actually sticks with this powerplay, then Shero needs to have a talk with him because at that point it's just pure stubbornness. It doesn't even have to be Shero, it can be Granato or Reirden, I don't even care if it's Dana ****ing Heinze. Somebody has to point out how ridiculous this is.

Part of me *hopes* that the logic in using a 5-forward PP today was to limit Letang's TOI. I've yet to see a proponent of the 5-man PP, and if there are any, I'd think today was evidence as to why this is a really bad idea.

Just give me a series of dumping and attacking those flyers defenseman. If Grossman is hurt, they are going to be thin there. The penguins need to invest on hitting those guys all series, then forcing them to chase them time after time around the net on a cycle.

I think Laviolette got caught not paying attention. Up 3 within 2 minutes he puts a scoring line out, the pens countered with a 4th line (and big bad scary Joe Vitale).

Laviolette takes a stick and slashes it against the side glass, sending the blade of the broke stick flying toward the penguin bench and onto the ice. This is what caused Granato to stand up. Laviolette, instead of accepting his stupid mistake, then blamed Bylsma for matching his 4th line out there.

Bylsma should have said, "well in a 6-3 game with just a few minutes left, I didnt want to risk Crosby or Malkin taking another cross check from behind while skating back to his bench".

I disagree with all of the psychoanalysis in this situation, but I simply cannot fathom a reason why Letang wouldn't be quarterbacking the power play going into the playoffs. It simply doesn't make any sense.

shafnutz05 wrote:I disagree with all of the psychoanalysis in this situation, but I simply cannot fathom a reason why Letang wouldn't be quarterbacking the power play going into the playoffs. It simply doesn't make any sense.

Sure it does. They want to get Crosby in on the #1 power play, which is the correct choice when you have a Sidney Crosby on your team. Somebody has to go. They tried to go without Sullivan and that didn't work. Now they're trying to go without Letang since Sullivan is essential. The other choices of people to remove are Malkin (uh, yeah) and Neal (leading the league in power play goals).

Yeah, I really don't understand the argument that Sullivan is any more effective on the power play than Letang. Letang's willingness to drive and shoot places him ahead of Sully, easily. Not to mention the fact that he can actually play defense.

To add: Against the Isles, the 5 forward power play resulted in a shorthanded goal by Josh Bailey. Against the Flyers yesterday, there likely would have been another shorthanded goal, had Sullivan not gotten nailed for a tripping penalty 10 seconds into the power play.

Quite simply, the massive risk Bylsma is taking here doesn't even come close to outweighing the benefit of having Sullivan over Letang (if there is any)